Political News and Commentary from the Right

“This is not a war of choice,” Barack Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Aug. 17. “This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9-11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al-Qaida would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is fundamental to the defense of our people.”

But that was nearly seven weeks ago. Now, it appears that Obama is about to ignore the advice of Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whom he installed as commander in Afghanistan in May, after relieving his predecessor ahead of schedule. McChrystal, who came up as a Special Forces officer, is an expert in counterinsurgency. Not surprisingly, in his Aug. 30 report to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, he recommended a course that seems certain to require a substantial number of additional troops.

During the first three weeks of September, Obama held one meeting on the “war of necessity.” Then, on Sept. 20, Obama appeared on five talk shows to push his health plan. The next day, Bob Woodward published a story in The Washington Post based on a copy of McChrystal’s report, which the newspaper later posted in redacted form. Woodward made it clear that McChrystal would request more troops. When questioners pressed him about the war, he said he was rethinking his Afghanistan strategy.

The rethinking looks a lot like a rejection of his general’s recommendations. McChrystal said last week that he had spoken to Obama exactly once since he was appointed. But many people, notably Vice President Biden, seemed to be speaking against his recommendation in a three-hour meeting Obama held with advisers on Thursday, Oct. 1.

…so says Al-Qaeda.

Democratic President-elect has remained silent on the fighting in Gaza…until today when he expressed “concern” over the loss of life and promised he’s monitoring the situation closely. Shortly thereafter, an Al-Qaeda audio tape was released, reportedly the voice of Ayman al-Zawahiri, blaming the President-elect and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for the Israeli assault on Hamas in Gaza.

Recall that one of the themes of Obama’s campaign was to “repair our damaged reputation” in the world community. Biden even went so far as to blame Bush’s foreign policy for creating terrorists. The implication was that if Obama were elected, the clouds would part and we would be loved by those who hate us, respected by those who despise us. Perhaps now they’ll learn.

“My Muslim brothers and mujahedeens in Gaza and all over Palestine, with the help of God we are with you in the battle, we will direct our strikes against the crusader Jewish coalition wherever we can.”–Ayman al-Zawahiri

Of course Obama isn’t the cause of the campaign against Hamas, and al-Zawahiri knows this. This statement by the terror group just proves that radical Islamists don’t need a reason to hate us. They hate us because they believe it’s their religious duty to destroy us. I don’t know if Obama really understood this and simply lied to appeal to the left-wing nuts in this country who really do believe if we “just act right” the world will love and respect us, or if he is as naive as this tape proves his campaign rhetoric was.

The fact is, radical Islam will always hate us and will seek every opportunity to attack us, regardless of who occupies the White House.

The same is true for Israel. Until the radical, militant Hamas is destroyed or forced into submission, there can be no peace.

“The first is that you aren’t the ones who won the midterm elections, nor are the Republicans the ones who lost. Rather, the Mujahideen — the Muslim Ummah’s vanguard in Afghanistan and Iraq — are the ones who won, and the American forces and their Crusader allies are the ones who lost.”–Ayman al-Zawahiri

Now the fantasy world of the campaign is over and the reality should soon start setting in. Obama and Biden will find their promises are more easily spoken than fulfilled. It’s time to realize you’re either with the terrorists or against them.

Time to wake up, face the reality and decide which side you’re on Mr. President-elect. The terrorists’ or ours?